Boulder Health & Fitness

Former Tour de France champion's interview with Oprah Winfrey airs Thursday and Friday

By Sarah Kuta kuta@coloradodaily.com

Posted:
01/16/2013 04:58:40 PM MST

Updated:
01/16/2013 09:10:44 PM MST

Rob Goodbody, left, and Randy Gaffney, both of Boulder, depart for a bicycle ride on Wednesday in front of Boulder Cycle Sport in North Boulder. Both riders agreed that doping is not fair to the riders who compete naturally. Thursday and Friday, some Boulder cyclists will be glued to television sets to watch Lance Armstrong's interview -- including a reported confession to doping -- with Oprah Winfrey.
(JEREMY PAPASSO)

A s Lance Armstrong confesses to doping to Oprah Winfrey in a special two-part series airing Thursday and Friday night, some Boulder cyclists will be yelling at their television sets in bars, restaurants and homes.

Boulder's Rick Vosper said he's hosting a "Lance Oprahcalypse Hecklathon" on Thursday evening. Vosper says the watch party will give the cycling industry a chance to heckle Armstrong as a group and start the healing process for all the damage the cyclist has caused.

"My feeling was that there was a catharsis available to a group of cyclists watching, preferably with the aid of adult beverages, and responding as a group to this barrage of lies," said Vosper, who has worked in the cycling industry for more than 30 years.

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For more than a decade, Armstrong has denied using performance-enhancing drugs and publicly attacked his accusers, challenging them to find proof.

After the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency issued a 1,000-page report detailing Armstrong's doping scheme, the 41-year-old was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, lost many of his endorsements and was forced to leave his cancer foundation, Livestrong.

In an attempt to restore his image, Armstrong taped a two-and-a-half hour interview with Winfrey earlier this week. Several sources have confirmed that Armstrong did in fact confess to doping during the interview.

Vosper said he and his friends have thrown around a few different drinking games to play during the interview. In one, those watching must drink every time Armstrong lies, Vosper said.

They threw out that idea because "everyone would be stumbling drunk within 15 minutes," Vosper said, laughing.

Most likely, they'll play "BingoStrong," a special Lance Armstrong Bingo card with statements like "It feels good to get this off my chest, Oprah," and "This doesn't change my fight against cancer."

All jokes aside, Vosper said he's heard from many in the cycling community that they can't wait for the whole "Lance fiasco" to be over.

Boulder's FasCat Coaching founder Frank Overton will be watching with a group of cycling friends as well, though he predicts his group's reaction will be more somber.

"It's how we're dealing with it," Overton said. "It's been very hurtful."

Many in the pro cycling community have lost sponsorships altogether because businesses don't want to be associated with a "dirty" sport, Overton said. He called it the "trickle-down Lance effect."

Armstrong's confession will make things worse for the cycling community in the near future, but it may do some good in the long run, especially for young cyclists who are competing "with honor, and competing clean," Overton said.

Overton, and others in the cycling community, were disappointed with Armstrong's decision to confess to Winfrey, who some say won't ask Armstrong hard questions because she sympathizes with him.

"Personally I'd like to see him go on Jon Stewart because he's going to rip him a new one, and that's what needs to happen," Overton said. "The biggest thing is to testify under oath, instead of doing it in this controlled, manipulated, public relations fashion that he's doing with Oprah."

Chris Jacobson, owner of Sports Garage Cycling in Boulder, said Armstrong's decision to come clean with Winfrey is a reflection of his personality as a competitor -- manipulative, calculating and in control.

"He's always been a strategic thinker," Jacobson said. "Because Oprah is America's darling, he can be very contrite. He's clearly got the support of Oprah if she's doing the interview. This is all calculated."

Growth Cycle founder Ray Keener said it's that same calculating attitude that helped Armstrong reach the top of professional cycling. Keener added that he knew Armstrong would confess eventually, but only when it was in Armstrong's best interest.

"Yeah, he was shrewd, he was aggressive, he was all those things," Keener said. "That's how you get to be a world-class athlete. World-class athletes are uniquely selfish and calculating."

Some speculate that Armstrong's confession is part of a plea to the International Cycling Union and World and U.S. Anti-Doping Agencies to allow him to compete again.

Sources for the organizations have said that Armstrong must testify under oath for them to consider lifting or altering his lifetime ban.

Keener was skeptical. He said with all of the evidence, testimonies from other cyclists and years of denial, there's no way Armstrong will be allowed to compete again.

"I don't think this is a move to get Lance's yellow jerseys back," Keener said. "I don't think he's ever going to get them back."

Boulder cyclist Jeff Winkler, who raced for the U.S. national team and various trade teams in the U.S., Germany and Spain, said the confession will hurt the general population's perception of cycling even more.

"I'm more worried about the negative impact from a public perspective, because I still think there were people that held out that he didn't dope," said Winkler, who is now a full-time coach at FasCat Coaching.

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